School of Geography - Theses

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    The influence of vessels and their trades on port landscapes in the southern ports region of Australia
    Pemberton, Barry M. ( 2002)
    This thesis argues that there is a connection between ships and port landscapes in the Southern Port Region of Australia - Victorian and Tasmanian seaports. The study investigates the types of vessels that have called over time, the designs of those vessels, and the berths that they have used. A strong link has been found between them. The thesis is structured in two parts. In the first part four case studies are used to show examples of different eras in different physical situations handling various geographic scales of trade. Macquarie Harbour illustrates a sheltered port handling interstate and local traffic. Warrnambool illustrates an exposed ocean port handling coastal, interstate and overseas traffic. Wye River illustrates a small single jetty outport for the coastal trade, and Melbourne demonstrates a multi site and multifunctional port. In the second part the respective influence of passenger shipping and cargo shipping is discussed and compared for their era, trades, and design characteristics. A third theme chapter reviews the range of port landscapes present in the Southern Port Region over time. Vessel design and port requirements have been found to be a product of the differences between old conventional and modern specialist vessels, passenger and cargo vessels, and employment at local, coastal, interstate and overseas scales of trade. Whereas conventional ships had few individual berth requirements and therefore used a variety of general purpose piers and wharves, modern specialist ships need custom built berths or terminals. The loading and unloading of cargo has a stronger effect on berth design than does passenger transfer. Geographic scale of trade influences the size of the berth, the formation of shipping precincts in ports, and the length of stay at the berth. Together these have a definite influence over the spatial and temporal development of ports. Stages in berth and therefore port evolution have also been studied in this thesis. Analysis of the effects of cargo handling method and shipping traffic change reveals that some ports have kept pace and evolved accordingly while others have been by-passed and have either been abandoned or have reduced in traffic accordingly.